Fear or Love? Your Choice

"If you try and give it your best shot, then the possibility isn't zero"

This weekend, Monkey and Seal will be on a plane towards Kansas City, Missouri for Spectrum Fantastic Art Live. We'll be vending next to some of our long-time art heroes. It's quite scary to be honest. We have never been to Kansas City. This will be our first out-of-state show. Most of the artists we'll be vending next to have at least 10-50 years of professional experience and have been published worldwide. Some of them have been doing art long before we were even born.They made the art that we looked up to as children. For Monkey, there is an artist that he has been following since he was 11 years old. We have also submitted multiple annual competitions for Spectrum, the magazine that is hosting the event, but have yet to break in and secure a published page. So going in there, we're pretty much unheard of. We are babies.

When we signed up, we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. We thought it was going to showcase more different levels of experience, but everyone so far seems to be well established professionals. So in the last couple of days, as reality creeps on us, there is an overwhelming impulse to run away. To say, we're not ready for this. Maybe next time.

But we have this sign that we made, posted in our humble apartment when we first moved in about six years ago, "What would you do if you weren't afraid?"

So we asked ourselves, what is the worse that can happen? We don't sell a damn thing and don't make our flight money/hotel//booth back, but we can meet our heroes, geek out over artwork and life-changing workshops. Go or not go, which choice can we live with later with no regrets?

I think everyday, there is an opportunity to say yes to either fear or love. Fear of failure. Fear of embarrassment. Fear of the unknown. Fear that the journey is long and your skill level is not where you'd like it to be. We can choose those things. But we can also choose love. Love of art. Love of accomplishment. Love of pursuing something rewarding. Love of your work to have pride for it regardless of what people think of it. Love of people, artists. To recognize and acknowledge each other as unique creators. Love of the mysterious unknown. Love of the awkward growing pains. Love of yourself and how far you have personally come from.

In life we are always either running away or running towards our dreams. Why not choose the path that promises a brighter ending? After all, if you try and give it your best shot, then the possibility isn't zero. You're opening a window. You can make "impossible things, " possible, if you take a step forward.

So what can you do today to make that step towards your dream?  What are you scared of that you can embrace?  What path will you choose today that will promise a brighter future?  Grab hold, and let's take a step forward together.

Don't Fear Revisions!

I need to revise some fables...

Most artists' stance on revisions of their work are polar opposites: either you love them or you hate them.  For those that love to revise your work, awesome.  For everyone else, read on.

Today we wanted to talk about revising your work.  While this is a day-to-day part of the business for illustrators and designers who are hired to execute specific images and are often asked to revise images repeatedly, we wanted to talk about self-initiated revisions.

For many of us, revising isn't easy. Usually it's because of one of three reasons.  Either we're in love with the image, we don't know what to fix, or we're tried/frustrated/over it.  

When you're working on a piece of art, you'll come to love a certain part of the image, if not the entire thing.  Maybe in a figure painting you really did an awesome job on the hands, or the ear, or the hair.  Maybe in a script you have a piece of dialogue that you absolutely love.  However, as William Faulkner has said, "Kill your darlings."  

While Faulkner said this to imply that any piece of writing that stands out as too-amazing probably isn't right for the story, we'd like to suggest that it means that you have to be willing to revise parts of your work that you like.  After all, would you rather have a painting of a person with a really awesome ear, or would you rather have a really awesome painting of a person?  

It's really difficult to do, and especially affects beginning artists.  This is because when we're just starting out, we tend to highly value our paintings, especially our best ones.  We think "This is my best painting yet!" and don't want to touch it for fear of messing it up. However, we have to keep in mind that we will create more and more pieces of art, and we should strive for always making each piece better than the last.  (although not if you're experimenting - then you should just experiment and have fun).   The best way to get over this is mileage.  Unfortunately, it may be tough to just start killing your darlings right away, but after you've put in hours and hours and created work after work, each piece becomes less and less important as a whole since you start to learn that you're always improving, and that your "best piece" is always yet to come.  If you keep your old work and compare it to your newer work, you should see some growth (unless you're not putting in the work and time), and this is a great way to remind you to not fear revision.

The second reason why revisions might give us difficulty is that we just don't know what to fix.  Especially when you're starting out, figuring out what exactly is wrong can be a huge challenge in itself.  During our stint at art school, we were told by one of our drawing teachers that the only difference between a student and a professional is that the professional knows what they need to fix, while the student doesn't.  While this isn't always true, the sentiment is.  Basically, if you don't know what to fix, how can you fix it?  

Really, the only way to combat this is to continually study art.  Whether that means art school, or taking classes, or working with a group of other artists, or carefully examining other pieces of art, it's all about expanding what you know so you can see what you need to work on in your own work.  Most of the time, the problems will be habitual, so it may take a while to see exactly what isn't working, but if you take a step away from your work and return to it, the issues usually become more obvious.  Go go revisions, go!

The third reason why artists skimp on the revising is what people might call "laziness."  We don't think that is really true - it's not laziness, but a general frustration with the piece.  Perhaps you waited to start a piece too late and it's due for a critique or even a gallery show.  Maybe the client is demanding and frustrating and visually clueless.  Perhaps you took a job that doesn't pay you your worth.  It could be that you just don't know how to fix the problem or haven't developed the skill yet.  Regardless, when people tend to go "the lazy route" and not to revise/fix things that they know are problematic, it's usually due to a larger emotional issue than just plain "laziness."

This is the most dangerous form of fighting revision, mainly because it involves actively making the choice to ignore an issue, which leads to your standard of work dropping.  This can lead to a reputation for poor work, current clients dropping you, etc. etc., all stuff that isn't too good.  

So how do you fight this form of revision anxiety?  We've found that the best way to to give yourself some time.  Procrastination is one of your biggest enemies, with Taking-On-Too-Much being a close second.  The more time you give yourself to work on your project, the better off you'll be, and the better state of mind you'll be in to make needed revisions.  

A good basis to start budgeting more time is to figure out how much time you think a project will take you, and then double it.  Think you'll knock out that painting in three days?  Give yourself six.  Think of it as a "distraction/emergency allowance."  Need a nap?  Take it.  Get sucked into the internet?  That's what all that extra time is for.  Have a freelance project that is a rush job?  Now you can take it!  Optionally, sometimes it just takes you a lot longer to create something than you originally thought, and with the extra time, you'll be in much better shape.  Heck, if you finish in the time you originally thought it would take you, then now you have more free time (or time for personal pieces, walking the dog, doing laundry, whatever).

Even better yet, if you budget in time for revisions, you'll be a happier camper-artist.  We usually find that if we give ourselves 6-8 hours away from a painting, upon returning to it, we'll immediately see things we missed in our first pass and be able to quickly fix them.  If we try to do a huge marathon paint  session, usually we'll miss things since after you stare at something long enough, it all looks right (or it all looks wrong), and by stepping away you allow yourself a fresh perspective.  

So revising is your friend.  It's how you get better, it's how you learn new things, and is how you grow as an artist. We know that there might be a lot of reasons why you prefer not to revise, but if you really want to take your work to the next level, learning to embrace the revision/editing process will make your  transition faster.  

The $100 Startup

So for all you out there who are interested in starting up a business (art businesses count!), we wanted to share with you a new book that came out today called "The $100 Startup."

If you're not looking into taking hold of your life by the horns and working for yourself (like we always say, entrepreneurship is not for everyone), please feel free to just skip this and come back tomorrow for our usual art posts.

If you are interested in working for yourself, either as an freelance illustrator, or maybe a photographer, or any type of business where you are your own boss, definitely stick around and hear us out on this.

"The $100 Startup" is not the book for people who are content to sit around and think about their dreams, but is for people who are actively looking to get up and do something about it.  If you're long-time readers of the blog, you know that it's all about hustle-hustle-hustle, and the book has a whole chapter (Chapter 9) on hustling, or as Chris defines it: "building interest and attracting attention."

Filled with case studies of others entrepreneurs who all make at least $50k a year from their small businesses, this book gives you the blueprint to start your own little company based on something you love.  The first part of the book examines the lean and mean $100 startup business model, and also leads you through how and why you might want to start up your own (side) business.

The second part of the book talks about the basics behind launching a product, marketing, getting your stuff out there, unconventional fundraising, and one-page business plans.  Lots of good stuff here to get you up and running.

The third section of the book is about expanding (or choosing not to), leveraging your existing resources, and talks about what to think about for the long haul.  Throughout all the sections, Chris intersperses advice with the case studies I mentioned earlier.  

While I wish there was a bit more specific advice and less storytelling, I do realize that specific advice for me doesn't apply to everyone, and vice versa.  Chris did the best job of straddling that fine line between sharing what worked for others and what might work for you.  Also, as someone who has read a lot of online marketing material and bought courses, this book didn't offer many mid-tier/higher level advice, but then again, that's not who this is for. 

This book is for people who haven't taken that first step towards becoming entrepreneurs, and want to learn more about the process before they dive right in.  I think this would also be great for any college-age students who are getting a bit disenchanted with the job market out there right now.

Overall it's a lot of information Chris has shared in his premium Empire-Building-Kit, but if you want a distilled, no-frills version of his $149+ premium course for a budget price, this book is the way to go.

Head on over to read more about Chris or to buy the book or to buy any of his other hand guides here.  

Full disclosure: we got a free copy of this book from Chris, and we're also part of his affiliate program, but that's only because his stuff is really good and Monkey has bought almost all of his products.

You Can Change Your Dreams

And that's vegan, gluten-free mushroom pizza, if you were wondering.

Here at Monkey + Seal, we're all about chasing dreams - more specifically, we want to inspire you to chase YOUR dreams.

But sometimes, as we're working towards that dream, you might feel uneasy.  Maybe it wasn't what you expected.  Maybe you've heard a bunch of negative things from people you respect and trust.  Maybe you've found a different passion.  Do you give up on that dream, or do you keep plugging away?

This is something that unfortunately, (just like most big answers in life), there is no simple solution.  We can't just tell you what to do, because every situation is going to be different for every person at different points in their lives.  However, let's talk it through.

First off, why are you experiencing this resistance to chasing your dream?  Is it the hard work?  Because if it is, know right now that most dreams are going to take a good amount of effort.  They don't have to, but if you want to be excellent at something, it's going to take your 10,000 hours.  So if you want to jump board just because "it's hard," while we get it, and we empathize, it's no reason to abandon your dream.

If you give up because of your natural inclination to go with what is easy and avoid the hard work, then the unfortunate reality is that you're very unlikely to reach any of your dreams.  No matter what it is, putting in the work (let us emphasize that the work doesn't HAVE to be hard, there is just usually a lot of it), is a necessary component for any dream.  If you give up now, you'll find another dream, and then you'll be more likely to give that dream up because of the work involved.

So what happens if it's not the work but something larger and more fundamental?  What about when you achieve your dream, and you find out that your dream has changed?  Maybe you're older and want something else, or maybe your life's priorities have changed.  That's okay too.  It's a natural part of growing.  Maybe you've realized that that dream company with all the status isn't really the best place for you. Perhaps you woke up one day realizing that it was your mentor's dream, or your parent's dream, or what you thought you wanted based on what you assumed a rational human being would want.  Maybe it is what you imagined that your ideal self would want.  A good example of this case is if you think you should want to be self-employed because tons of people (Monkey included) extoll the virtues and freedom and all the benefits of being self-employed, when you really want stability and security and to not have to worry about all the challenges self-employment might bring (legal status, taxes, permits, finding customers, etc. etc. etc.)  Perhaps maybe you're just bored now that you've finally gotten what you've always been working towards.

Regardless, we want you to know that IT IS OKAY.  Whether you've invested four hours or fourteen years, it's totally okay that your dream has changed.  It may feel at first like you've lost a lot of time, or that you wish that you discovered that it wasn't your dream earlier.  However, you probably wouldn't have ever even known that your dream wasn't right until you achieved it, and you wouldn't have wanted to live you life with a huge "What if" hanging around in the back of your mind.

Also, think about all the new things you've learned on your journey.  You've completed a journey, which is a huge accomplishment in itself, and you've probably learned about your new passion and goals from achieving your first (or second, or third, etc.) set.  Feel free to take some time to reflect on your path to where you are now, and give thanks for all the challenges you've learned from, the good and great stuff that's come out of your hard work, and all the people you've met and who have helped you get to where you are.

You might be frightened because you're starting over.  After all, to quote Linkin Park, "the hardest part of ending is starting again."  You're might be switching fields completely, going from being an expert to being a beginner again, or you could be just shifting over, utilizing a slightly different skill set than what you were doing prior.  Whatever it is, don't fret.  Change is good.  It keeps things interesting and it's okay to be a beginner again.

Remember: if you learned anything at all, (even "I hate this"), then it wasn't a waste of time.  Wrap  up what you have to, and start preparing for the next major journey in your life.

Staying Up Late is Not A Competition

Take care of yourself and watch out for blade injuries!!!

Monkey here (yes, again):

So yesterday I was sent an article by a friend that talked about how people who work more than 40-hour work weeks lose productivity.  This makes sense, as between plain fatigue, burn-out, and boredom, when you're working crazy hours, your brain doesn't work right.

People say that driving while tired is nearly as dangerous as driving while drunk (I totally believe this after some totally tired driving stints where I suddenly was five blocks away from where I thought I was), and I can totally tell that my motor skills don't work quite as well while I'm tired.  It's also been shown that fatigued workers will usually screw up, so that although more work  gets done, it's more bad work that's being done that will eventually have to be re-done.

Yes, Monkey is the king of irony, as he sits here typing this at 3am after printing for five hours, but once again, it's a matter of listen to what I say, not what I always do.

Why? Because I acknowledge that I'm not the ideal role model that I strive to be.  I know I should learn how to say no to things, or how to tell people "Sorry, I'm busy," but that's still hard for me.  It's something I'm working on, but yes, I take on too many projects and by my choosing to do freelance screenprinting/art/gallery ownership/event planning rather than do some job that pays me consistently every two weeks, I admit I have put myself in this situation.  The point of all this is that it is a choice, and I'm learning how to choose to not make myself so crazy sleep-deprived.  Regardless, I know what I'm talking about, even though I might be half-cracked out on lack of sleep.

Moving on, I realize how much of a culture of over-working we live in, especially as someone that has gone to art school.  In art school (for those of you who haven't gone), especially as an illustrator, you learn that you need to work hard, and work often.  Teachers tell stories of former students or their peers who drew nearly every waking hour.  When they would hang out at bars, they'd be drawing.  The star students are always working in their sketchbook.  Instructors will tell you that deadlines are everything - to miss one is to jeopardize your entire career (although this point is true).  Students will complain to each other about how little they've slept, and it almost becomes a sort of competition:

"Damn, I only slept two hours last night trying to finish this last painting."

"Really?  You're lucky, I didn't sleep at all.  I maybe could have slept for 15 minutes, but I figured I might as well power through it."

"I totally know how that is, I did that the night before last.  I think I've only gotten five hours of sleep over the past three days."

"I know, right?  I think I might be at like 8 hours this week, but I know how you feel, I think I only got five hours of sleep over the weekend working on that portfolio piece."

And on and on it goes.  Many people are trained to think that by staying up late, we're going to win some sort of magical award or something just for staying up late and being "productive."  Honestly, if I'm complaining on Facebook about how tired I am, most likely my brain is so shot that although I'm getting some work done at the computer, I'm probably also playing Solitaire Blitz or reading articles that friends had posted earlier in the day.  Seriously, if you're posting on Facebook, chances are that you're probably not just posting on Facebook then getting back to work.

Last week, there was one point that I was so tired that I stayed up from 3-5am doing work that, if I was sane and well-rested, probably would have taken me maybe 15 minutes to do.

Now, I'm not saying that all-nighters are not sometimes necessary, or that maybe your circumstances (working two jobs and raising kids, working and going to school at the same time, taking care of your elderly relatives, etc. etc.) are trivial and you should suddenly just quit things and get more sleep.  Believe me, I know what it's like to be tired all the time because of other obligations that pay the rent and allows you to eat meals on a daily basis.  We know that sometimes you just have to work and work until you're exhausted or the job is done.

However, what I am saying is that we need to fight against this competitive, crazy culture of overworking.  We need to start focusing on sustainability and making sure that we take care of ourselves.  Think of it like maintaining a car.  If you change your tires and oil on a regular basis, while expensive and annoying, it's much easier/less time consuming/cheaper than having your engine crack or your tires pop on the freeway.  Just as you have to schedule in vehicular maintenance, you need to schedule in maintenance for your mind and body.

Things to scare you into taking care of yourself: Carpel Tunnel and Repetitive stress injuries.  Loss of eyesight from staring at the computer too long without breaks.  Loss of cognitive function from sleep depravation.  Slicing your hand open with an xacto blade because you were too tired to focus properly. Chronic neck and back pain.  Ulcers and other gastrointestinal ailments from stress.  High blood pressure.  Type II Diabetes from not eating properly.  The list goes on and on.  And I personally know someone with all of that, and believe me, it's not fun.

So if you can, schedule in a breather.  Take a short break.  Get off the computer and take a nap.  Take care of your mind and body.  Whether or not you can do it right now is up to your own individual circumstances, but don't put it off until it's too late.  Stay healthy artists!

Top 3 Ways to Kill Your Art Career

Monkey here:

So recently I've been dealing with a lot of artists recently in my various roles, and I've also been dealing with a lot of frustrations.  Most of those frustrations stems from a lack of professionalism.

The reason why stress professionalism in general so much, is that I want you to succeed.  I know how hard it can be to make a living off of art, especially when you're first starting out, and because I know how hard it can be just to create, I don't want stupid little things to get in your way.  The truth, like it or not, about the art world is that you have to do a lot of selling to find commercial success.  I'm not saying you have to make hard sales where you're schmoozing everyone you know - that's actually just annoying and kinda gross, but you do have to be able to talk up your work and make your work presentable, and the way to do that is to make yourself appear professional.

Now I'm not talking about going to gallery shows wearing suits and ties (although it might help), or that you have to carry briefcases around or anything like that.  What I am talking about is making sure that you foster your relationships with gallery curators, collectors, event coordinators, and other people who are doing their best behind the scenes to make your art look awesome so buyers can find it and give you money.

So here are the top three ways (with explanations) on how to ruin a career and look unprofessional:


1.  Be Late.
Deadline are set for a reason.  Most often than not, they are not just arbitrary times and dates made for drop-offs - curators have lives as well.  The reason I post a lot on facebook between 2am and 4am is not because I enjoy sleeping really early in the morning - it's because I'm up because I have work to do.  I don't enjoy not being able to hang out with Seal, nor do I like having to work 10-14 hour days 6-7 days a week.  But I do it because that what it takes to get things done and turned in on time.

When artists turn in pieces late, it prevents me from hanging the show.  Putting up a show (especially a group show) is more than just hanging paintings.  Sure, the physical process of hanging a show is pretty easy - measure spacing, nail/screw into a wall, hang painting, level it, done.  However, a good amount of time is spent trying how paintings interact with one another.  What is the story they're telling?  Do the colors flow?  What about size, theme, overall narrative, subject matter, style?  I can't hang a show unless all the pieces are in, and when artists are late (or worse, consistently late), I take note.  I know who I want to work with in the future.  I can also list the names of artists who I don't want to work with because of their unprofessionalism.  On a side note, there is also a list of people who I don't want to work with due to my No-Asshole rule, but that's a different blog post.

I also know other gallery owners who also have to deal with late artists.  I've stopped in to drop work off at other galleries and I've seen them stressed out about other artists.  Just as I take note of other artists who they're excited to work with to curate into Big Umbrella, I also take not of artists who they're not happy to work with.  So: be on time!

2.  Don't Follow Directions.
Whether from a curator or a boss or someone else, I'm sure you've probably gotten an email with five different deadlines, multiple directions, and all sorts of other information that makes your head spin.  While I know it's probably a lot of information, the reason people send lots of info is to try and make the project work well for everyone.

The reason that there are very specific reasons for the way I ask for submissions for outside artists for Big Umbrella Studios is because I have a crazy email inbox and I've created filters to try and keep it under control.  When you send things to other email addresses, or drop things off at the gallery, I might lose it in the craziness.  Most galleries gets hundreds (if not thousands) of submissions a year.  Well known art directors might get a hundred or more submissions a day.  If you don't want your stuff to get lost, follow directions!  If a gallery or a foundation asks for slides, one might complain about the cost/time in getting slides made.  However, the reason they're asking for slides is that that is the process in which they review submissions.  Sure, it might be old-skool, sure maybe they should get with the times, but if you want to get into their show, follow the directions, otherwise they're probably not even going to review your stuff.

Also, this has never happened to me, but I assume that if a gallery owner asks you for a painting for a clown show, you need to paint a clown.  You can get away with painting something clown-related, maybe a whoopie cushion, or maybe the green hand from the original "It" cover illustration, or maybe a portrait of someone who you think is a clown painted with a red nose, but please don't paint something completely off topic like a dragon.  If you want to paint fantasy, maybe paint a dragon eating a 17th century clown, but not just a dragon.  While I completely understand and respect your creative need (sometimes you just have to paint a dragon, or a dildo, or whatever), by agreeing to take part in a themed show, you're really agreeing to follow the general guidelines of the show.  

Think about it this way, if you worked for a whole month (or more) trying to plan a birthday party for the person  you love the most, and everyone agreed to dress up in fancy clothes, and someone shows up drunk, smelling like urine, and not wearing any pants, you'd be pretty upset.  Don't be the person not wearing any pants.  Sorry if that just got weird.  Anyway...

3.  Don't apologize or take responsibility for when you mess up.
No one is perfect.  There are times that I've been late or have been so muddled that I've forgotten how someone needs something and have had to ask for directions.  We are not all robots.  However, life happens.  Curators are people as well, and except for a few who are just assholes, we are swayed by apologies.  We are much more likely to continue our working relationship with an artist if they screw up and apologize profusely for it.  If we didn't remember to tell you the theme of the show, it's our fault, not yours.  If an artist is a day late with work and we're waiting around and they don't call or email us or text us or schedule something in advance, it's really disrespectful of our time, and we're not going to want to work with that person again.

While this is in no way of excusing being late or not following directions, if you do mess up here and there, make sure you take responsibility for it.  I highly encourage people to make things happen, regardless of how tough that might be.  Especially when you're working with someone for the first time, I'll pay a $30 cab fare to make sure that I'm there on time and with everything I promised I would have.  I'll sleep 45 minutes the night before a physically exhausting 8 hour printing job if that's what it takes to meet the deadlines, so really, if at all possible, make your commitments, but if you do mess up, make sure that the other party knows that you know that it was a mistake and that it won't happen again.

So that's it.  It seems simple, but you'd be surprised at how many artists turn paintings in late, or turn stuff in unframed when I've asked them for all their work to be ready to hang. Handle your business professionally, and clients/galleries/me will love you and ask you back again and again.

Jumping In: Our First Craft Fair...Sorta

Monkey + Seal get a lot of questions regarding what it was like to show at our first craft fair. Believe it or not, we started out very humbly, with only two zines and two comics. Monkey had a little comic called "Comic Shorts," the first issue of "The Bad Date Zine," and his "True Ghost Stories" zine. Seal had the beloved "The Story of Seal." That's it. Oh yeah, and we had lots of 1" pinback buttons.

However, even though the SF Zine Fest where we got our humble origins was all the way back in 2007(!), we constantly have had "new experiences" at craft fairs. We had our first Alternative Press Expo, our first Bazaar Bizarre holiday show, our first anime convention, etc. etc. Each time, we find a new audience, new vendors, and new experiences in terms of setting up our booth, new product, signage, and all the other stuff that we think about when we sell someplace.

One thing that we have never done before, however, is do an out of town show. All of the places we've sold have been in the city limits of San Francisco. This is mainly due to the fact that we don't own a car, so we haven't been very keen on racking up transportation costs to vend elsewhere. However, during the summer of last year, Monkey heard that Spectrum (a very competitive illustration/concept art annual) was going to have their first conference, and were looking for vendors.

Monkey jumped at the opportunity, and the two of us decided to throw our hats in the ring and see if we'd get in. We did, and now we're busy preparing for what is easily the biggest show of our lives. It's a three day event in Kansas City, Missouri, where we will be vending next to some of the biggest names in the fantasy art arena. If you know anything at all about fantasy art, we're down the isle from JP Targete, Chris Rahn and Jason Felix, and we're about 8 booths away from James Gurney. Also vending will be people you just might have heard of: Dan Dos Santos, Stephan Martiniere, Julie Bell and Boris Vallejo, Todd Lockwood, and just like a bajillion other awesome artists who we look up to and are inspired by.

Suffice to say, it's hard not to be intimidated by the competition. Not only that, we're having to learn how to manage booking airfare and hotels, getting our goods over to Kansas City, etc. etc. However, we're doing our best to set ourselves up the best we can for success and even though we're "not ready," will we ever be ready for this type of competition?

Although it's terrifying, expensive (more on that later), and difficult, no matter how tight our portfolios are, no matter how prepared we might be, it'll always be a new type of event, and we will never be truly ready. So, we can just do the best we can and go for the gold. Just like everything else in life, sometimes you have to make that deadline for yourself that you can't escape and just go for it. Sure, maybe your first mini comic might not be very good. Sure, maybe your first convention experience will lose you money. Sure, maybe the first gallery you submit to might turn you down. However, if you constantly wait until you're "ready," you'll have missed your opportunity. Better to live with no regrets, than to wonder "what if?"

So, here's the part where you can help us "totally pwn" (Seal just stared blankly at this phrase) this Spectrum Live! event. We're bringing a bunch of new products, and since this is easily the most expensive event of our careers (with travel and lodgings, shipping, etc., we're at around almost two month's worth of rent), we're offering you all first dibs on some of our newest stuff to help offset our costs. We weren't really going to launch any of this until after we "tried it out" at Spectrum, but you all are our supportive fans, and we wanted to let you get it before anyone else did.

So help send us to Kansas City, and check out all the new stuff here. As a preview of what's to come, we've got a brand new tie design, two new Monkey prints, two new Seal prints (one of which is being released before the show that it's in even opens!), and our Create or Die shirt, re-released in a classic black and white version.

Live with no regrets, and grab some great stuff while it's on sale here!